


Rubbing a Bad Charm

by sportivetricks (tamlane)



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Cult
Genre: Dysfunctional Relationships, F/M, Mommy Issues, Power Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-20 00:36:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12421401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tamlane/pseuds/sportivetricks
Summary: Ally has a morbid fascination with Kai's body.  It hasn't gone unnoticed.





	Rubbing a Bad Charm

**Author's Note:**

> Written pre-7x08.

If Ally occasionally snuck a glimpse of Kai, that was normal, she told herself. It was just idle curiosity. Bodies were bodies, each a marvel of workmanship, and it had never been beyond her to appreciate the aesthetics of the masculine form. Top-heavy. Abrupt. Powerful.

Kai Anderson’s body, though, was just so... _ordinary_.

Long, scrawny limbs. Shoulders rolled forward from too much time in front of a screen. Skin so white that to call it pale was a charity. Pasty was a more apt description. The overall effect stirred in Ally a jarring mix of fascination, repulsion, and maternal tenderness.

But that wasn’t all, if she were honest with herself. She had seen that body move stealthily around a crowd, its owner fully cognizant of how much space he could take up when he wanted to. Her eyes had darted over suit jacket and hoodie alike, searching out the mystery of his angles, the hint of his form moving under them. And in spite of herself, her fingers had itched to touch, to confirm that there was, in fact, a solid body beneath the many costumes he wore. 

Kai so often seemed beyond his body, a foreign inhabitant of it.

It didn’t go unnoticed for long. And then came the blinding light, the bare table, the hot pulse of blood where their pinky fingers were joined. The question, rolled bald-faced off his tongue as usual:

"How long has it been since you touched a man?"

Ally rolled her neck, gave him a tight smile. "I’m touching a man right now, aren’t I?"

He rephrased, drawing out each word: "How long has it been since you touched a man’s body?"

Unconsciously, Ally's gaze dropped to the hollow of his throat, to the Adam’s apple bobbing just above. So pronounced. "What makes you think I’ve _ever_ touched a man’s body?"

Kai's face was impassive. "The way you look at me."

"The way I look at you? That’s—" Ally chuckled nervously. "That’s all in your head."

"I don't think so."

Ally met his eye. The furnace kicked off, the basement suddenly, eerily silent. Tiny dust particles danced in the light between them, causing Ally to shift uncomfortably in her chair.

"I’ve thought about touching you," Kai said, his voice a near whisper. Conspiratorial. He wanted her to lean in. She wouldn’t. "Exploring you." _He_ leaned forward slightly, eyes wide and dark. "Worshipping you."

In spite of herself, butterflies danced in Ally’s belly. "Look, I don’t—"

"I’ve thought about smearing every inch of your body in your wife’s blood. And then licking it all off."

He meant to shock her. Ally knew that. Instead, the butterflies turned to molten lava, settling low in her pelvis. She tried to pull her pinky away, but Kai held firm. 

"Have you thought about touching _me_?” he asked.

Ally shook her head. "You ruined my marriage." It wasn’t true, but to his credit, Kai didn’t argue the point. "You terrorized me. Lied to me. Blackmailed me. Invaded my house." She ticked off the grievances, but her heart wasn't in it anymore. Only one still made her jaw clench, and not even for the reason it should have. "You invaded my bed."

He hummed, a shadow of a smile on his lips. "But I never touched you."

Ally looked away. He would have been so much easier to hate if he’d crossed that line.

"Answer the question."

"Sure, I’ve thought about touching you," she said. "I’ve thought about punching you. Kicking you. Choking you."

The smile widened. He dropped her pinky and stood. 

Ally's heart pounded, but she held firm as he circled the table. He stopped to her left, silhouetted by the light streaming in the basement window. He grabbed the edge of the table and yanked it out of the way.

"What are you—"

"Go ahead," Kai said, standing in front of her where the table had been moments before. 

She smoothed her palms up and down her thighs, suddenly feeling naked without the table between them.

He held out his arms. "Touch me any way you like."

"You’re nuts," Ally spat. "I'm not going to—"

"What are you afraid of? That I’ll fight back? Touch you back? I won’t." He cocked his head to the side, his gaze raking over her. "Do you want to restrain me? Would that help?"

"No," she replied, but the image flooded her mind, brought heat to her cheeks.

Kai moved closer, bent over until he was looking her in the eyes. "Would you like for me to get on my knees for you?"

Ally's hands curled around the edge of the chair. "Why are you doing this? What do you want?"

He looked momentarily startled. "I want you to trust me. Don't you see? You have all the power here. All you have to do—" His expression turned harsh. "—is _take it_."

"I want you to step back."

Kai raised his eyebrows, an unreadable sentiment in his eyes. Surprise? Delight? Defiance? He paced backwards, arms extended, until his legs hit the seat of his chair. He kicked it back out of the way, the scraping sound making Ally jump. "Is this far enough?"

Rather than answer, she rose to her feet, looking her fill. His attire was absurdly priestlike: black mandarin-collar tunic, black pants. Like always, the garments were form-fitting enough to cling to his thin silhouette, but thick enough to not reveal too much of what lay underneath. 

_You can touch me anyway you like_ , he'd said.

Perhaps he expected a slap to the face. Certainly he deserved one. Instead, and almost without conscious thought, Ally's palm made contact with his chest. She pressed it into the cloth until she found what she was looking for – the soft, steady pounding of his heartbeat. Or was she feeling her own pulse in her fingers? They seemed to be beating in unison. No, his... his sped up.

She'd done that. She was doing that.

She dropped her hand, her eyes searching his. Kai lowered his head in a slow, single nod. "Take it."

Before she could change her mind, Ally grasped the top button of his tunic and worked it free. Then the second. He looked down at her imperiously, and she was overcome with the urge to rip, to tear, to test him. To take something from him. So she did. She grabbed the edges of the tunic and jerked it open, the hiss of ripping fabric filling the otherwise silent room. Buttons pinged over the floor. Kai stood motionless, his dark eyes glinting. 

Ally shoved the tunic aside to reveal a soft green t-shirt underneath. His nipples were visibly hard.

She stepped back.

"What's the matter?"

She looked away, rubbing her fingertips in a tight circle over her temple, her eyes focused on what appeared to be a blood stain on the floor. "Nothing. Your—" She swallowed. What the hell was she doing? "Nothing."

"Why did you stop?"

She drew in a deep breath and held it for a moment. It escaped her in a nervous huff. "Your nipples..."

He was silent for a long moment. When she looked up, he nodded at her chest. "Yours are, too, you know."

Yeah, she knew. She had felt them tighten into sympathetic peaks the moment she saw his. 

"Like I said. You have power."

"I can’t do this."

"Why not? You want to touch me."

She did, god help her.

"So touch me."

"What I want," she said through clenched teeth, "is for you to be quiet. And still. Be still."

Kai’s eyes flashed defiantly, but he remained silent and still as instructed.

Ally placed her palm on his chest again, but the t-shirt was much thinner. Soft as butter. She could distinctly feel the firmness of his body beneath it - the outline of his ribs, the suggestion of abdominal muscles. She pushed the tunic off his shoulders, and he started to shrug out of it.

"Leave it," she said, surprised by the firmness of her own tone. 

Kai let the garment pool at his elbows, a sliver of pale biceps visible between it and the short sleeves of his t-shirt. Something about the disheveled pose struck her as boyish, vulnerable. If she were honest with herself, it aroused a maternal instinct in her, and not for the first time. 

She stepped close enough to him to feel his body heat, and with a slow, shaky sigh, she smoothed her hands over his shoulders.

Wide. Strong.

She thumbed the slight protrusion of bone along their length. She tugged the neckline of his t-shirt down and traced his collarbone. When she circled the hollow of his throat, his lips parted, drawing her attention.

She shook her head. "You’re so young."

Kai clearly resented the remark. His nostrils flared slightly, but he didn’t speak. Good.

That beard stubble advertised his youth more than anything else. Classic overcompensation. Ally cupped her hand over his jaw. She rubbed her thumb over the sparse blond hairs on his chin and then dragged it lightly over his bottom lip.

He leaned his head down into the touch, and Ally took a step back. 

"What are you doing?" she asked, trying to determine if the movement had been intentional.

His voice was suddenly sharp. "What are _you_ doing?"

It was a challenge, and that’s exactly how Ally took it. She grabbed the hem of his t-shirt. His eyes narrowed, but he let himself be pulled forward, and he stood motionless as she pushed his t-shirt up.

So much skin. Ally greedily took it all in. The slight ripple of muscle, the gentle dip of his navel. The soft cluster of fair hair just beneath it. And as she looked, goose bumps arose all over his abdomen.

"Do you want—"

"Take it off," Ally interrupted him tersely.

Kai lifted his chin, looking down his nose at her for a long moment. But he obeyed. In one smooth motion, he pulled both garments over his head. It took him a little longer to disentangle his arms from the sleeves. Ally watched the muscles in his sides work with the motion. Finally, he tossed the garments aside and looked at her expectantly.

Arousal slammed through Ally, desire like she hadn't felt in months. Why? There was nothing distinctly arousing about a nude male torso, and certainly not this one in particular. Kai's chest was a bit hollow, his shoulders a little too round for his otherwise skinny frame. His skin was shockingly pale, the hair on his chest sparse.

But the harsh truth remained: she was alone in a room with a half-naked man. They could pretend, but no matter what he said, it could only go one way from here. Worse: Ally thought she might want it to go that way.

Kai again bent down, meeting her at eye level. "You. Are in. Complete. Control."

She flattened her hand against his bare chest. To push him away, she told herself.

Warm. Hard.

His heart thumped quickly now. And she only thought she'd seen goose bumps before. This time when her fingers skimmed down his torso, his skin instantly erupted in tiny bumps. They radiated outward from her touch, up his chest, over his sides. How bizarre, how remarkable to have such a visible effect on another person, and with so little contact. 

"Why are you letting me do this?" Ally asked softly.

His jaw clenched. He blew out a heavy breath through his nose. "Ally. There is nothing I wouldn't let you do to me. Nothing."

This was an illusion. One of Kai's twisted games. It had to be. But she could almost believe him. And now she couldn't stop touching him. Everywhere her hands went, his skin reacted, his muscles fluttered. Ally ran her nails lightly over his side, and he hissed. Transfixed, she realized she'd hit a ticklish spot. She did it again. And again.

" _Fuck_ ," he cursed under his breath. He fought to remain still, but Ally could tell by the way he flinched that the spot was torture for him.

She took mercy, pacing in a slow circle to his back, dragging her palm up his arm and over his shoulder as she went. His back was utterly magnificent – powerfully built, meticulously carved, from the sharp angles of his shoulder blades to the sensuous hollow at the base of his spine. Ally mapped out every ridge and muscle with her fingers. His skin was pebbled all over with sensation, soft hairs standing on end along the length of his arms.

"Feel good?" she inquired needlessly as she circled around his other side.

He didn't answer. He rolled his lips inward, biting down on them, the tip of his tongue snaking out.

"How about here?" Ally scraped her thumbnail across the tiny bud of his nipple. The effect was heady, immediate. He twitched, fists clenching at his sides. She rubbed her thumb over and over it, and once the flesh was thoroughly agitated, she gathered it between her fingers and squeezed.

Kai bared his teeth at her like a dog. 

"Are you hard?" The question sounded bizarre, foreign on her tongue.

"What do you think?"

She let her hand slide down his front, stopping at his waistband. "I think I’ve satisfied my curiosity now."

"And I think you’re a fucking liar."

Ally shook her head. "You know what I think?" She curled her fingers over his waistband and tugged until he was close enough that she could feel his breath on her lips. "I think you’re a pitiful little boy who just wants his mommy."

Kai hummed low in his throat. "What does that say about you?"

Ally jerked open his pants, the harsh whisk of the metal zipper ringing out between them. "Fuck you."

"Go ahead."

"No." She plunged her hand into his boxers and wrapped it around the result of her handiwork. He was thick, hard, leaking. "But you’re going to come for me."

"You think so?" Kai gritted out. "Ahh _goddamn_."

Just like riding a bike. 

Ally closed her fist around him and pumped, firm enough to mean business but slow enough to keep him on edge. Kai kept his word. He didn’t move to touch her at all, though he helplessly thrust into her hand, trying to dictate the motion.

"Wet your hand," he whispered.

"Ask nicely."

"Goddammit," Kai snapped. "Please wet your fucking hand."

Ally spit in her hand and smeared it over him, picking up speed. He let out a snarl of pleasure. She tightened her fist, and Kai fucked into it hard and fast. Despite his posturing, it clearly wasn’t going to take long. Already his breath was ragged. "Harder," he pleaded, and Ally consented to the request, her fist a tight, wet vise. "Ally, _Ally_ —" He broke into a hoarse shout, trembling hard, hips bucking. She milked it from him until he whimpered, "stop, please stop."

Ally looked down between them, marveling at the sticky mess splattered on his abdomen, coating her fingers. It hardly seemed real. She wiped her hand on his pants. Kai grasped it with shaky fingers.

She looked up.

"Do you trust me?" he whispered.

Ally swallowed heavily. "Do I have a choice?"

He brought her hand to his lips and gave it a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are lovely. :) You can find me on tumblr at [sportivetricks](http://sportivetricks.tumblr.com/).


End file.
